Back to the original question, for most plants, when the pod begins to turn brown (or the fruit begins to color) the seeds are ripe. Color of the seed itself may or may not be an indicator of ripeness, as some seeds do not always change color until dried or exposed to air. Let's see about columbines....

Here are three pods from the same branch on a columbine: #1 is green -- #2 is showing signs of turning brown -- #3 is dehisced (split open).


I snipped the ends of each off. In doing so, also cut into some seeds.

#1 #2 #3

And the seeds removed from the pods -- #1, #2 and #3.


I have to say, the results even surprised me! In this case at least, a completely green pod can have mature seed.
So my advice is snip a bit of the ends of the pod off, and see for yourself what is happening inside.
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RickCorey, I believe that your thin tan seeds were never fertile (or viable) to begin with. I had a difficult time finding a pod with tan seed, and the only viable seeds were either green or black.


The thin, unfilled (non-viable) green seeds (shown by arrows) will turn tan. Unfortunately, when I rolled the pod with tan seed between my fingers to remove the seeds as I did the others, I think the tan seeds broke up significantly. They certainly looked bigger in the pod than when I remove them. In fact nothing came out with this method. I had to slit the compartments longitudinally to extract them.

Leftwood, you are amazing, that was a terrific demonstration and a job very well done

Well, now that is just fascinating! I've always left mine on the plant till the stem was starting to dry, but looks like we can snatch seeds a bit earlier than that!
Thanks very much for that demonstration, Leftwood, and thanks to Jude for asking the question in the first place!

>> RickCorey, I believe that your thin tan seeds were never fertile (or viable) to begin with.

Thank you, Rick, that's very possible. The plant might be sterile, self-sterile, or just not well-pollinated. And knowing that a green or partly-brown pod might already have viable seeds changes my seed-saving strategy significantly.

That single plant appears to be a reversion from a "stabilized hybrid" from several different C. species.

Columbine, McKana Giants Blend, Aquilegea hybrida

The blooms were so much darker in color and simpler in form from the original plants that I asked a horticulturist at Botanical Interests. He said that it was pretty stable, but may have reverted to looking like C. vulgaris).

"Thanks for the question. McKana Giants columbine is an OP variety. The hybrida in the name refers to the parentage that created it long ago from a few other species. It has been stabilized for quite a while now. With a blend of colors and an OP genetic profile, recombination or reversion is possible. Your description is similar to A. vulgaris, one of the original parents. This could be a case of reversion or expression of older dominant genes. I hope this helps. "

Mine self-sow slightly. And mostly self sow along the edges of the woods. I planted seeds from them and about half came up. I'll add those plants to the area the parents liked. That is not a formal planting. Just an expansion of what is natural to them with a little help.

Burnie1948 said:Can you cut the seed stalks when it just starts to brown (but most pods still green) and expect that these seeds will eventually turn black and dislodge in a big paper sack?

I've tried that...
Unfortunately, in my experience, those green pods stay green, and I lose those seed.

While many plants will continue to ripen after being collected... Notably thistle and belamcanda.... Columbine seem to need to stay attatched to the plant for ripening to occur.